Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

But let's not confuse terms. If you mean KGB agent - which I guess is what this is implying - that is of course highly speculative at this point.

But whether officially in the KGB or not, Manafort is most certainly an agent for Russia. He has been one for over a decade. I don't know why it doesn't get talked about more, but Manafort was essentially the SPOKESMAN for Putin in Eastern Europe, as he went around trying to undermine and destabilize countries in that region. Like, that was literally his job description. Another huge detail that has gotten lost in the mix is there are indications in Manafort's little black book that he had a hand in the events that led to the invasion and annexation of Crimea. Which, judging by his history, of course he had something to do with that. That was in his department.

So whether Manafort undertook the KGB agent oath, who the fuck knows, probably not. But he is most certainly an agent of Russia and Russian intelligence, has been for years, and has reported to and taken direction from the highest levels of the Russian government. This is all in black and white, some of it in Manafort's own handwriting. In other words, there is "evidence."

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Here's a nice summary of what happened, which I stole from another board:

Quote

The most significant lies affirmed by the court today are those regarding Russian Intelligence Officer Konstantin Kilimnik and the meeting at the Havana Club on August 2. The key points, which were touched upon nicely in this WaPo article yesterday:

• ⁠The meeting happened while Manafort was Trump's Campaign Chairman, and was with a person he knew to be a Russian Intelligence Officer.
• ⁠The purpose of the meeting was discussion of a "Ukrainian Peace Plan" which would have involved splitting Ukraine in two and removing all US sanctions - an extremely favorable outcome for Russia.
• ⁠Manafort gave Kilimnik extremely detailed, private internal polling data. This happened after Manafort attended the Trump Tower Meeting, and clearly knew that Russia was actively engaged in an effort to get Trump elected.
• ⁠The Special Counsel explicitly notes that Manafort's lies on these points was motivated by a desire to secure a pardon, implying that telling the full truth would be highly damaging to Donald Trump personally.
• ⁠It is also worth noting that Kilimnik was funnelling money into the Trump Inauguration through GOP operative Sam Patten, who continues to cooperate.

All occurrences of the word "Peace Plan" are redacted, but Marcy Wheeler has a nice runthrough of how to read the transcript here. As a supplement, here are relevant bits from the hearing transcript released last week on the polling data:

• ⁠On Manafort's lies being motivated by a desire for a pardon, since telling the truth would damage (or even personally implicate) Trump:

Special Counsel: And our view is, that is a lie. That that is really under -- he knew what the Gates 302s were. It's obviously an extremely sensitive issue. And the motive, I think, is plain from the <redacted>, is we can see -- we actually have -- we can see what it is that he would be worried about, which is that the reaction to the idea that <6 lines of redaction> would have, I think, negative consequences in terms of the other motive that Mr. Manafort could have, which is to at least augment his chances for a pardon.

• ⁠On the poll being either more detailed or private, and Kilimnik (the Russian Intel Officer) immediately taking a good deal of action overseas related to the data:

Special Counsel: Mr. Manafort, again, now that he's sort of down that road of saying this was just a <redacted> poll, he has to now explain away how it is that the person on the ground [Kilimnik] in the Ukraine doesn't know that. And he says: Well, I didn't tell them. And then you have an email -- I mean, it just got worse and worse, where Mr. Kilimnik is saying: I just spoke to <redacted>, and I am doing X, Y and Z with him.

• ⁠On Kilimnik writing a three page report back to Manafort in connection with the polling data:

Special Counsel: What is of interest to us is that the questions in the poll are completely consistent with the ongoing effort, at the very least by Mr. Kilimnik, to promote a <redacted> . Mr. Kilimnik submits a three-page written document in connection with that polling to Mr. Manafort and others to help frame those questions....So, the continuity of Mr. Kilimnik's interest -- and by the way, Mr. Kilimnik points out in that documentation that <redacted> would be able to facilitate Mr. Manafort being the -- that if he were the spokesperson, and denominated as such within the US, that he would also have access to senior people <redacted>-- that's as far as I can go on this record.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Let me get this right. Manafort still has not been charged with any crime related to Russian collusion (his charges went back to before Trump was running for resident).

Manafort is now being accused of lying to Mueller about a number of things but none of them have anything to do with Trump.

No, you do not have that right. Manafort was charged with un-registered lobbying, bank fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, etc., all related to Russian and Ukranian oligarchs, and the DC indictment indicates these activities continued through September of 2016. The new crimes he has committed are "related to Russian collusion" as Manafort was lying about matters that go to the heart of the investigation into the Russian conspiracy to influence the election.

The things Manafort is lying about have to do with the Trump campaign and the Presidential election. I'll let you and Mueller decide if that has "anything to do with Trump."

If these swamp creatures would stop lying and obstructing justice, Mueller might be able to finish his work.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

To make it more illustrative to average people, reporters should explain what internal polling data is. The average person likely thinks polling data is just polls showing who is winning etc., such as the night poll one sees on a news cast. To the average person it seems silly to think that is important.

What reporters need to explain is that internal polling data is the blueprint/gameplan of an entire campaign. It is the heart of the plan of where (demographics, locations...specific people across the electorate) to deploy campaign resources, to persuade voters to vote (favorable people), to persuade others not to vote (non favorable people.) By giving that to a foreign power, with the capabilities of Russia and one that wants to help you, you are joining forces. Whoever knew and approved of giving that internal polling data to the Russians, basically hired the Russians.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

To make it more illustrative to average people, reporters should explain what internal polling data is. The average person likely thinks polling data is just polls showing who is winning etc., such as the night poll one sees on a news cast. To the average person it seems silly to think that is important.

What reporters need to explain is that internal polling data is the blueprint/gameplan of an entire campaign. It is the heart of the plan of where (demographics, locations...specific people across the electorate) to deploy campaign resources, to persuade voters to vote (favorable people), to persuade others not to vote (non favorable people.) By giving that to a foreign power, with the capabilities of Russia and one that wants to help you, you are joining forces. Whoever knew and approved of giving that internal polling data to the Russians, basically hired the Russians.

Essentially what this means is Manafort, while working for the campaign, told the Russians who to try and influence, how to influence them and when.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Essentially what this means is Manafort, while working for the campaign, told the Russians who to try and influence, how to influence them and when.

This is short and to the point and good way to present it.

It is what was theorized as being the likely conspiracy. An anti-hacking company, looking at Trump's servers to see if they showed signs of being hacked, noticed consistent traffic, everyday, between Trump's servers and a Russian bank. They theorized that could have been polling other data being sent.

As Max and his colleagues searched D.N.S. logs for domains associated with Republican candidates, they were perplexed by what they encountered. “We went looking for fingerprints similar to what was on the D.N.C. computers, but we didn’t find what we were looking for,” Max told me.

Examining records for the Trump domain, Max’s group discovered D.N.S. lookups from a pair of servers owned by Alfa Bank, one of the largest banks in Russia. Alfa Bank’s computers were looking up the address of the Trump server nearly every day. There were dozens of lookups on some days and far fewer on others, but the total number was notable: between May and September, Alfa Bank looked up the Trump Organization’s domain more than two thousand times. “We were watching this happen in real time—it was like watching an airplane fly by,” Max said. “And we thought, Why the hell is a Russian bank communicating with a server that belongs to the Trump Organization, and at such a rate?”

Only one other entity seemed to be reaching out to the Trump Organization’s domain with any frequency: Spectrum Health, of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Spectrum Health is closely linked to the DeVos family; Richard DeVos, Jr., is the chairman of the board, and one of its hospitals is named after his mother.

Two Tone Crew Podcast

Quick links

Titans Report

Titans Report is a fan operated website for the Tennessee Titans. The site includes a message board, blog, podcast, organized fantasy games,and a mobile site. The podcast has had on many prominent members of the media covering the Titans. Some names include John McClain of the Houston Chronicle, Jim Wyatt of the Tennessee Titans official website, Paul Kuharsky of 104.5 The Zone, Phillip B. Wilson of the Indy Star, Jonathan Hutton of the Titans Radio Network, Sal Capaccio of the Buffalo Bills Radio Network, Scott Wright of Draft Countdown, and others.